Soccer Football - Serie A - Lecce v AS Roma - Stadio Via del mare, Lecce, Italy - January 6, 2026 AS Roma's Evan Ferguson celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
LECCE, Italy, Jan 6 (Reuters) - AS Roma got their faltering Serie A title bid back on track with a 2-0 win at Lecce on Tuesday, where Irish striker Evan Ferguson and substitute Artem Dovbyk were on the scoresheet.
Roma, who suffered their fourth defeat in six league matches in a 1-0 loss at Atalanta on Saturday, did enough to see off a Lecce side which had held Juventus to a 1-1 draw at the weekend.
"We didn't have much time to prepare the match after the Atalanta defeat, it was mostly video work," player-of-the-match Ferguson told Sky Sport.
"But it worked, we knew we had to win and we did it."
The Roma forwards have been under fire of late. Roma had scored a disappointing 20 goals in 18 league games, with Ferguson and Dovbyk managing a mere two goals apiece before netting at Lecce.
"It's always great to score, the most important thing, however, was winning," Ferguson told DAZN.
"Now we have to reset immediately and think about the next one. We have a good relationship (with Dovbyk), we give each other advice."
The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute when Paulo Dybala's pass found Ferguson just inside the area who found space between two markers to drill his shot into the far bottom corner.
Lecce spurned a gilt-edged chance to equalise after the break. Konan N'Dri played a perfect ball across to the unmarked Santiago Pierotti who fluffed his shot from almost on the penalty spot, sending his effort well wide.
Dovbyk replaced Ferguson on the hour mark, and 11 minutes later he wrapped up the win with the goal coming from a corner kick. A headed clearance fell to Niccolo Pisilli, whose attempted shot was diverted on target by Dovbyk.
Roma are fourth in the standings on 36 points, three off leaders Inter Milan but with two more games played while Lecce remain 16th with 17 points.
(Reporting by Trevor StynesEditing by Toby Davis)
